Things That are Awesome

During the school term, I usually post very little, and if I do post, what's on my mind is ASL and stress.  But life isn't just about going from one stressful thing to another, even if some days that's what it feels like.  Our life is good right now.  Here are some things that are awesome about life as it is.

Take a Week Off
The full-time faculty at Cincinnati State are on strike this week.  This means I get a week off!  Not quite, since I still have to do homework, but I'm not at class right now.  And it's amazing what an extra 4 hours of time means for one's sanity.  Extra sanity in the middle of the school term is Awesome.

The Kids' School
I volunteer at the kids' school library once a month.  Well, once a month per kid.  Then I volunteer once a month in Tank's Kindergarten class, mostly making copies and filing papers and stuff so the teacher doesn't have to do it herself.  (I'm happy to do that - seriously, our teachers are under-appreciated.)  It all averages out to be once a week at the school.  Last Thursday when I was there during Elijah's library time, feeling run ragged, shelving books and thinking about all the things that I had to do that day and the next, Elijah raised his hand and said to the librarian, "That's my mom."  Yeah.  That's why I do it.  It's amazing how much they love me being at the school, even when all I do is shelve books and copy papers.

D Rex and Olivia
Tank did a medical study 2 years ago.  Got some shots.  Did some blood draws.  He got a substantial amount of money for that, especially for a 3-year-old who doesn't have any real-life expenses.  Some of that money was used for Key West (remember, all the kids contributed - which is something of a drawback now, since they're starting to say things like, "If we get another $200, can we go back?"), and some for tithing, obviously, but the rest just sat in a bank account.  And that's boring.  So we finally decided to let him spend it.

I took him to Toys R Us and let him pick out anything he wanted.  What he really truly wanted wasn't there, since it was a toy he wanted 2 years ago and toys come and go.  So what did he choose instead?  This:

He didn't name the horse Silver or something equally manly.  Not even Horse or Horsey.  He named her Olivia.  I asked why he chose the name Olivia and he said, "Because it's a pretty name."

I love that he picked out such a classic toy.  Anyway, we went home and searched for the toy he really wanted, a walking dinosaur.  You remember Chaga?

That's Chaga.  Well, Chaga has a "dad."  This is Chaga's dad:

He's huge.  And turns out he's expensive!  $300 expensive.  Which is a touch more than Tank actually had to his name.  I talked him into an older-child (and less expensive) version of the toy, D Rex:

D Rex is a COOL toy.  Seriously, we all play with him.
He named D Rex something you'll never guess.  ...  Yep, D Rex.  Ah, you guessed it.

Rob's Work
Things are going really well at Rob's work.  He just won a poster contest that gave him a $1,000 travel award.  He's applying for 2 separate grants that will give him 1-a small amount of money for research and a great bullet to put on his CV (CVs are science resumes), and 2-a bunch more money in salary for 1 year.  Obviously he hasn't yet won either of those, but still, nothing like this has come across his desk before, so we're excited for the opportunity to apply.  Plus, the grants he's writing are full-on grants, and that's giving Rob lots of experience in grant writing.

Also, Rob still loves the teaching that he's doing.  He teaches every Tuesday and Thursday night, and he has an on-line class, too.  He loves it.  It's nice to remember that he loves it, since it takes so much of his time.  And the extra teaching is allowing us to knock down a bunch of our debt, and that's awesome, too.

Working Out
Rob and I have been waking up every morning and exercising together.  We've been doing that for about 2 months now, and we love it.  Well, we're taking this week off (mostly), and it's weird to go back to how it used to be and feel that this is not normal any more.  I feel so ... lazy.  All I do in the morning is get up and take a shower.  What?  That's it?  7 a.m. is now a normal time to get up, and it's great to have accomplished things before 9 in the morning.

Part of the exercising has been running, and on Saturday we ran just over 8 miles.  What I have to say about that is:  8 miles is substantially longer than 6 miles.  Don't tell me "it's just 2 more miles."  You run them and then you can tell me that.

We've been training for a crazy run that's almost 16 miles, mid-Winter, up mountains and such.  Except it's getting cold outside.  And I don't like to be cold.  So the race is slipping back into "I don't want to do it" territory.  We'll see.  Either way, the working out will continue, cause we like seeing muscle on our bodies (even if it is just little ones), and breathing deeper, and feeling better, and eating better.  It's awesome.

Bike Riding
Rob finally fixed up our bikes!  So now everyone in the family has a bike, and while I was at school last night (mostly time off.  I said MOSTLY I have time off) they went on a bike ride.  The kids thought it was awesome.

Managing Time
I'm not going to tell you that I am suddenly amazing at managing my time.  That's not true.  But I'm better able to handle all the things on my plate than I was before we started on this Tamra Going Back to School Adventure.  I feel like my life is more balanced than it's ever been, even though it's busier.  And what I'm learning is that it's not EVEN THOUGH, it's BECAUSE.  Because my life is busier, I have to balance it or I fall apart.  I'm reading my scriptures and working out nearly every day.  Those things haven't consistently happened for years.  I direct the kids' homework when they get home from school, and they have it done in a timely manner.  We are ON TASK.  I have all my own assignments done on time.  The chores all get done, though not as often or as thoroughly as they used to.  Everyone, including me, is a little more patient when clothes aren't folded or dinner isn't made.  We get it all done eventually.

Some things have lessened, but they still happen.  We don't do social dinners as often as we used to.  We just don't have the time for it.  And we don't play with the kids as much, since we all have things to do.  But the weekends are suddenly precious.  That's our time to spend with the kids, to be a family, to do special things that we don't have the time for during the week.

So I'm grateful that we're this busy.  It's empowering to know that we can do it.  Rob will say, "I look forward to when we're not this busy," and I tell him that he's kidding himself.  We'll always be this busy.  Now that we CAN do it, we WILL do it.  We'll just trade some things for different things.  Rob won't work 3 or 4 jobs at a time, and I won't always be in school.  But we'll let the kids play sports, maybe even participate in the coaching, and spend lots of time in the car.  We'll take a couples' swing dance class once a week.  We'll volunteer.  We'll plan and take vacations.  Whatever it is, we'll find things.  So it's awesome that we're learning to manage our time better.

And a Random Assortment...
This sign language stuff is awesome.  That's a given.

Our van now has over 381,000 miles on it.  It's still running.  Not as smoothly as when we first got it in January, but hey, we'll take it.

Edith, Rob's boss, is awesome.  When I think about things in our life that are going right, she's always on the list.  I love that woman.

Miciah is on book 4 of the Harry Potter series.  She was borrowing the books from friends when Grandma called and asked if Miciah would like to own the series.  She then sent out all 7 hardcover books.  Awesome!

Now that I have glasses, I don't get headaches any more.  It occurred to me that 1-I used to get headaches on a more frequent basis than I realized, 2-I'm not getting them any more, and 3-this was a change due to my glasses, when I recently looked into my purse and thought, "Why do I have headache medication with me all the time?"  Thank you, glasses.  You're awesome.

Gah!

I missed 6 whole points on a 60 point homework assignment!

It turns out that, yes, this is the sort of thing that I obsess over.  6 points!  6 POINTS!!!

During my first round of college it never occurred to me to be upset by something like this.  I could just work harder next time, or choose not to work harder next time and accept the consequences.  After all, that's not a lousy grade, and attaining simply decent grades leaves more time for things like sleep.

But this time around, it's simply unacceptable.  I'm not spending this much time and money and energy to get merely passable grades.

6 points.

Get Back to Work!

I keep trying to remember what life felt like before.  When the most important thing to do on a rainy day was to sit down and read a book all day.  When I didn't have to do laundry RIGHT NOW because I had a full day a week to listen to music and fold laundry in a leisurely fashion.  When I could choose to not clean up the house because I was being lazy.  When I would post random, pointless blogs because, shoot, what else was I doing with my time?

That's a weird, lost time.  Life moves at a different pace now.  I can't afford to not clean my house - it has to be done, and there's no way around it.  I think about wanting to sit on the couch all day, and then I sigh and start my homework.

Not that I'm regretting school.  Nor do I really dislike the new pace.  It's just different.  I can't call a friend and say, "Hey, I don't want to do anything today, wanna hang out?" cause that'll put me too far behind with everything else I have to do.  And I don't mind it.  But it still feels strange.

It's worth it, though.  This sign stuff rocks!  I can tell I'm improving, and I'm enjoying my time.  Plus, I still have time to volunteer at the kids' school once a week.  I can still waste an hour or two, here and there.  The house is clean most of the time, and that feels nice.  I'm getting stuff done and accomplishing things, and that's a great feeling, too.  I'll take the trade-off.

Now back to work!

One Week Down

Last week Dea left.  Wow, was that really last week?  Anyways.  Her departure marked our official end of summer.  I'm sad without her.  Everyone should know a Dea.  She makes the world a better place.  (And you guys know me:  I'm a non-emotional one, not prone to saying things like, "She makes the world a better place" unless it's 100% true.  Science has proven in multiple peer-reviewed studies that Dea indeed makes the world a better place.)

However, it's nice to have a normal life back, with just 3 kids and a steady routine.  Thank you, school!  I go to school 1 evening and 2 mornings a week, and afternoons are to myself because this little guy goes to Kindergarten:

We had a wide range of expectations.  We had the Worst Case in our minds, where he cries all day and we receive calls mid-day asking us what is wrong with our child.  Then the Best Case, where he gets on the bus like a champ and comes home glowing.  And then multiple in-between possibilities, like he's fine at school but doesn't like riding the bus by himself.

Happily, he's been amazingly brave (for Tank), and it's been Best Case.  In fact, in the above picture, he'd just finish saying, "I love school!"  He likes being where his siblings are, he likes his teacher, and he likes learning stuff.

No, I didn't cry when he got on the bus.  That's not really my thing.  I forget that this surprises people.  I'm not a robot, I just don't think it's sad when my kids go to school.  They'll come back.

Some good First Week of Kindergarten stories (sorry, but it's my blog.  You can, however, choose not to read on through the sappiness):

Peng the Penguin
Tank's clinginess has been less as of late, which makes everyone happy, especially Tank.  He makes friends and plays well and doesn't need my legs to hide behind.  But on the day that class lists were posted, he was uber-clingy and fussy.  I was thinking, "This is the old Tank, what's up?"  And it slowly dawned on me that he was probably anxious about school.  Of course!

That same day we went to buy school supplies (don't do it with all 4 kids - trust me), and the kids wanted these cute little mini-Webkinz to put on their bookbags.  I said fine, whatever, they were $5, and Tank was happy to have one until he saw that there were mini-pillow pets as well.  He picked one out but then saw that they didn't change from a pillow into a pet.  What's the fun in that?  He went for the big bin of full-size pillow pets and would no longer be happy with the mini options.

I tried to convince him that if he did well in school, we could come back and buy one.  At $20, I didn't want to just get him one.  He was unhappy with that.  He threw a fit, I refused to budge, and we all left the store unhappy.  At store number 2, though, I decided that this was an opportunity.  I changed my tactic and tried again.  "Okay, Tank.  You can have a pillow pet, BUT if you're not good at school, or if you aren't brave riding the bus, I get to take him away.  Alright?"  He agreed and we brought home Peng the Penguin, Tank's new best friend.

It has worked wonderfully, which kinda surprises me.  Since when do pre-bribes actually pan out?  But Tank has been great, he's done everything bravely, and he gets to snuggle with Peng every night.

(And as a note:  I thought pillow pets were ridiculous until I hugged one.  Quite possibly the best hugging stuffed animal in existence.  Just so you know.)

The Kissing Hand
Do you guys know this book?  Our Kindergarten teachers use it as a way to help the kids transition to going to school away from their mommies.  It's about a raccoon who doesn't want to go to school, and his mom gives him a Kissing Hand.  She kisses the palm of his hand, and he closes his fist and the kiss stays with him and doesn't wash off.  Then, whenever he's missing his mom, he can put that hand up to his cheek, and the hand will tell him, "Mommy loves you.  Mommy loves you," and he'll be filled with warm, happy thoughts.

A few years back, when my mom was asking what books to get the kids, I asked for that one, thinking that it might help the boys transition to school even better if we owned the same book they were reading in class.  And it's been great.  Tank came home, told us he'd read the book, and we read it 3 more times together at home.  I gave him a Kissing Hand on each palm, and then he asked for a Kissing Hand from Miciah and Elijah.  Super cute.  (He put his palm on his cheek and I said, "Is it working?"  He nodded and replied, "It's saying Mommy loves me.  Mommy loves me.  I have warm, happy thoughts.")

The second day he reported that he was so good at school, and he liked it so much, that he didn't even have to use the Kissing Hand! 

On day three I put him in my arms and said, "I miss you while you're gone, Tank.  What should I do about that?"  He grabbed my hand and spread my fingers into a fan (just like in the book), and kissed my hand.  "Now, put it on your cheek," he said.  I did.  He continued, "Is it saying Teancom loves you?"  I smiled really big and said that it was indeed.

Excessive Cuddling
On day two, I took a nap in the afternoon, cause it's the perfect napping weather.  I was still in bed, but waking up when the kids arrived home.  Tank asked if he could lay down with me, which was fine.  I assumed he just wanted to suck on his fingers, and there are only 2 places where he can suck his fingers now:  his bedroom and Mommy's bed.  (And he hasn't broken that rule once.  What an obedient kid!)  A minute or two later, he was in my arms cuddling.  Elijah asked me to come see something and I went to get up and Tank yelled, "NO!" and clung to me like a monkey.  I giggled.  "Do you need some cuddle time, buddy?"  We cuddled for 10 minutes before he was satisfied.

He hasn't done that since.

First Day Off - Fail
I was excited that Tank would go to Kindergarten and I would have the afternoon to myself.  I had tried to decide what to do with my first day to myself and decided it should probably be a lot of nothing.  Sit on the couch.  Read a book.  Whatever.

And then Miciah got sick.  She came home on Thursday with a fever, and the school has a 24-hour fever-free policy.  So Miciah was home with me on Friday, even though she wasn't sick at all any more.  This was fine until Tank left around 12:45, and then suddenly it was like, "Why are you here?  You're not supposed to be here!"  I made her go to her room, which surprised her, I think.  But this was MY FIRST DAY OFF.

Here's the other Tank's First Day picture:

Oh well.  Tuesday I had the afternoon to myself, and it was great.  I made dinner and realized that it's not the making dinner that I hate, it's the making dinner with kids crawling all over me that's so detestable.

...

In other One Week Down news, I started school this week, too.  I want to smack some of the kids in class with me, but I try to be patient and remember that they're only 19 years old.  I also have to remember that it's a community college, and so I shouldn't expect it to be as demanding as BYU was.  But honestly.  My final project in one of my classes is a glorified book report.  Which is fine.  But I get 10 points JUST FOR TURNING IT IN ON TIME.  Which kinda blows my mind.  You don't bribe college kids to turn stuff in on time.  You EXPECT them to do it and punish them if they don't.  (Another 5 points for typing it.  TYPING IT!)

Oh well.  I've got 3 kids and a life to take care of, so I don't mind the easy points.  Plus, I like ASL, no matter what.

Alright.  Hope you're all having a good September!

Finished!

Back in April we started painting the boys' room.  Dark green on one wall.  Light green on the opposite wall.  Striped dark and light green on the walls in-between.  We painted the 2 solid walls and the light stripes, and then just left it.

Occasionally Elijah would say, "Mom, could you finish painting my room now?"  I'm say sure and then not do it.  Lately he's been more insistent, and has sounded more emphatic about it, which is unusual for Elijah (Miciah's emphatic about everything.  Elijah, about almost nothing).  And since I've had a break from school for almost 2 weeks, I figured now was the time.

So here it is, their finished room:

Happily, you can still see a few stickers on the bedroom door.

Hurray for finishing a project!

In other boys' bedroom news, they got this hand-me-down dresser from Rob's sister:

(I know, it looks like I was taking a picture of those bins and the dresser just happened to be underneath.  It was a picture of a dresser, I figured it didn't matter much, so I didn't try to get the best angle.)

It was meant to be for Elijah, and then Tank would use the bins on top for his clothes (they were originally on the other side of the closet).  But Tank wasn't happy that his brother got a real dresser when he had see-through bins.  So they came up with a compromise:  Share the dresser.  They each have 1 of the big drawers, and they share the top little drawer.  I love that they're such good share-ers.